**Atlanta’s Airport Struggles Amid Longest US Government Shutdown**
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the busiest flight hub in the country, is facing significant challenges during the longest government shutdown in US history.
In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy revealed alarming staffing shortages at the airport. “Eighteen of 22 controllers in Atlanta didn’t show up” for work on Saturday, he said. Across the national airspace, there were “81 staffing triggers” that day, indicating many controllers were absent.
“To answer your question, it’s only going to get worse,” Duffy warned. With Thanksgiving just two weeks away, he predicted that air travel would be “reduced to a trickle,” potentially leaving many travelers unable to fly home to their families. “Many of them are not going to be able to get on an airplane, because there are not going to be that many flights that fly, if this thing doesn’t open back up,” he added.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport was the busiest airport in the world in 2024, serving more than 108 million passengers, according to a report by Airports Council International. However, the ongoing shutdown has led to hundreds of daily flight cancellations nationwide since Friday. This follows Duffy’s decision to temporarily reduce flight traffic by 10% at 40 high-traffic airports across the US.
Flight tracking website FlightRadar24 reported that over the weekend, approximately 4,500 flights were canceled and over 17,800 flights were delayed within, into, or out of the United States.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) told Business Insider that both Secretary Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford implemented the reduction in air traffic as a “proactive” measure to maintain national airspace safety during the shutdown. The FAA also noted that controllers working without pay have led to increased reports of strain from both pilots and air traffic controllers.
According to a shutdown plan released by the Department of Transportation on September 30, about 13,000 air traffic controllers are required to work without pay during this period.
On Sunday night, lawmakers took a step toward ending the shutdown, as the majority of the Senate voted to advance a spending package aimed at reopening the government. However, the shutdown will not end immediately; the measure must now be debated and approved by both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
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https://www.businessinsider.com/government-shutdown-sean-duffy-atlanta-airport-air-traffic-controllers-2025-11